DA: Family dispute led to Lehigh Twp. homicide

Thursday, October 5, 2017

DA: Family dispute led to Lehigh Twp. homicide. Gray Hall reports during Action News at 6pm on October 5, 2017.

LEHIGH TWP., Pa. (WPVI) -- Investigators say a homicide in the Lehigh Valley, which sparked a manhunt that ended with a standoff and schools on lockdown Thursday morning, began as a family dispute.

The suspect in the shooting has been identified as 61-year-old John Hann.

"This was a personal dispute that was going on, family-related, between the two cousins. It may have involved financial issues, that is still being looked into. But it was certainly was not something that was just spur of the moment, there was an ongoing problem between the cousins," said Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli.

Chopper 6 over standoff in Bethlehem on October 5, 2017.

That shooting happened around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday on the 500 block of Longacre Drive in the Cherryville section of Lehigh Township.

Police believe Hann shot the victims, a husband and wife. The husband died and his wife is hospitalized.

Standoff ends in Bethlehem, Pa. on October 5, 2017.

The search for a suspect led police to a location along Oakland Road in Bethlehem Township early Thursday morning.

There, officers were engaged in a standoff, as Hann refused to come out of his vehicle. Finally, around 10:10 a.m., Hann emerged and was taken into custody.

The standoff caused a lockdown at three area schools - East Hills Middle School, Freedom High School, and Bethlehem Area Vocational-Technical School. The lockdown was lifted following the arrest.